Railway cars typically consist of a railcar that rests upon a pair of truck assemblies. The truck assemblies include a pair of side frames and wheelsets connected together via a bolster and damping system. The car rests upon the center bowl of the bolster, which acts as a point of rotation for the truck system. The car body movements are reacted through the springs and friction wedge dampers, which connect the bolster and side frames. The side frames include pedestals that each define a jaw into which a wheel assembly of a wheel set is positioned using a roller bearing adapter.
Over time the side frames may become damaged or worn to a point they must be replaced. Most side frames are formed via various casting techniques, however as an alternative to producing new side frames, some worn side frames may be reconditioned to bring the side frames back into the appropriate specification requirements to allow the reconditioned side frames to be reinstalled onto the truck assemblies.
Since side frames come in a multitude of sizes, the reconditioning process is a labor intensive process with an operator spending hours reconditioning each side frame individually. A method and system to accommodate the variety of sizes of side frames and enable the reconditioning process to be done more effectively is desired.